


the convergence of the aces

by noelle_1324



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (and a happy akaashi and oikawa alongside them), Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Laughter, M/M, Male Friendship, Time Skips, this features bokuto and iwaizumi becoming good & happy life long friends!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 21:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noelle_1324/pseuds/noelle_1324
Summary: Bokuto is more perceptive of emotions than most people might think, he does cycle through a lot of them after all. So it doesn’t take long for him to notice that something isn’t quite right with the national team's new athletic trainer, Iwaizumi.Or:  Bokuto extends an arm in friendship and gets far more than he bargained for—a friend for life.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Bokuto Koutarou & Iwaizumi Hajime, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	the convergence of the aces

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OIKAWAHAJIME13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OIKAWAHAJIME13/gifts).



> This was inspired completely by @OIKAWAHAJIME13's [tweet](https://twitter.com/OIKAWAHAJIME13/status/1370380478151233536?s=20) calling for more Bokuto & Iwaizumi friendship fics! I hope you like it <3
> 
> I originally tried to make this a gen fic but in life, our platonic and romantic relationships aren't separate from each other, and since this is all about two strangers becoming lifelong friends, I didn't want to take away the people who are also important in their lives.

Bokuto is more perceptive of emotions than most people might think, he does cycle through a lot of them after all. So it doesn’t take long for him to notice that something isn’t quite right with the national team's new athletic trainer, Iwaizumi.

Bokuto hasn’t got to interact with him much outside of routine checkups and team meetings, but Iwaizumi seems like a cool, interesting guy (as well as someone who could possibly stand up to Bokuto in arm wrestling).

Bokuto also notices that he seems a little sad though, lonely even. On the team, he’s still got Kageyama’s respect and appreciation from years ago, and Hinata is friendly to him too, no longer fearful of the scary ace he once encountered outside the bathroom.

Iwaizumi and Ushijima even have some sort of strange communication, and it’s a surprise to all that serious Iwaizumi can break the stoicism of Ushijima.

Still, Iwaizumi seems lonely. Apart from the people he knew back in Miyagi, he seems reserved. He’ll politely and efficiently help all the players on the team, but if pulled into a real conversation, it’s like he’s holding something back.

In the rare moments where Iwaizumi shared anything about him, Bokuto learned he was also the ace of his high school team. So Bokuto feels it’s his duty, ace to ace, to help Iwaizumi smash down the walls that are blocking him from being himself.

The opportunity presents itself after a grueling practice in which Iwaizumi needed to stay back for a little longer to make sure everyone hadn’t overexerted themselves.

Iwaizumi is the youngest athletic trainer working for the team though (which Bokuto is amazed by, how did someone his age get this position?), so sometimes his seniors will take over and let him leave earlier if they don’t need any more help.

Bokuto’s worried he’s lost his chance today since by the time he’s cleared to leave it had been 15 minutes since Iwaizumi left.

But to his luck, Iwaizumi is right outside, in the middle of the phone call. Bokuto doesn’t want to eavesdrop though so he stands off to the side.

Iwaizumi is speaking louder than usual, laughing even, a rare sound for Bokuto to hear, and he can’t even eavesdrop anyway because Iwaizumi’s speaking in a language he can’t recognize.

Hinata has said some things in Portuguese for him before, but Bokuto doesn’t think what Iwaizumi is saying sounds quite right.

Iwaizumi ends the call a few minutes later with a few words, “ _Cuídate, Tooru, mi cariño_ ," and a soft smile on his face.

Bokuto hates to pop the happy bubble Iwaizumi is in, but he needs to strike while he can. (And he hopes that talking to Iwaizumi now will eventually make him happy too.)

“Iwaizumi!” Bokuto calls out, trying to make it look like he just left the building.

“Oh! Bokuto-san, is everything alright?” Iwaizumi stood up a little straighter, his gentle smile replaced with a more formal expression.

Bokuto is briefly saddened that he dulled Iwaizumi’s smile, but he can talk to him now, and can try to extend an offer of friendship, something to make him feel less alone.

Except, Bokuto didn’t actually plan what to say so instead he just blurts out, “You always smile a lot after talking on the phone!” 

It’s not what he meant to say, but it is true. Bokuto had seen Iwaizumi make calls during breaks before, and he always smiled to himself after and seemed a little lighter before getting back to work.

“Oh, uh..” Iwaizumi stammers, “I just like to talk on the phone with certain people sometimes?” He awkwardly holds his phone up as he says this, and right as he does, a notification appears and lights up the screen.

Iwaizumi quickly pulls it down, but not before Bokuto sees his lock screen, a photo of Iwaizumi smiling while his arm is wrapped around another man who’s holding up a peace sign.

The other man also looks suspiciously similar to the setter on the Argentinian team whose matches they had watched a week ago to study the players.

A few things click into place with that photo, the phone calls in another language that always make Iwaizumi happier, and also his reservations to get closer with the team.

As much as Bokuto loves Akaashi, it’s still something he keeps closer to himself too. The team knows though, some of them in similar situations, but Iwaizumi had no way of knowing that since he hadn’t gotten close to most of them either.

Bokuto wants to get to know Iwaizumi, wants him to feel happier on his new team, less afraid to be himself, so he offers up a clear declaration on the already awkward atmosphere.

“Do you want to be friends?” He says with the finesse of a kid meeting someone new on the playground, which is probably not what Iwaizumi was expecting as shock flashes across his face.

Before Iwaizumi can even reply, Bokuto is rattling off an explanation “Because like, you’re really cool and strong too, like me! I heard you went to America for school too, that’s really interesting! I don’t know anyone else who has done that but now I do!” Bokuto sends a signature smile at him while Iwaizumi processes it all.

“I don’t know anyone else who would ask their athletic trainer for friendship instead of an ice pack, but now I do,” Iwaizumi smiles at him, and Bokuto hopes he can make his new friend smile a whole lot more.

“Well new friend, practice ran long and I’m hungry, do you want to get ramen?” 

Iwaizumi agrees happily and follows Bokuto with a spring in his step. Bokuto is eager to chat with his new friend, and he asks and listens as much as he can.

Bokuto quickly learns that ramen is one of Iwaizumi’s favorite foods and he used to go with his friends a lot in high school. He learns a lot of things about Iwaizumi on the walk to get food, and even more once they arrive. 

Iwaizumi is from Miyagi, which Bokuto knew, but he didn’t know before that catching cicadas in the summers was his favorite hobby before volleyball.

While a younger Bokuto was attracted to volleyball because of the brightly colored balls and the quick-moving action, Iwaizumi said he got into volleyball when his best friend uncovered a volleyball in the forest instead of a beetle.

He learns Iwaizumi loved volleyball, he still does of course, but he found an even greater passion in taking care of his team, which led him all the way to study in California.

Bokuto laughs at Iwaizumi’s college antics and shares his own stories of young adulthood like the time he had to evacuate his apartment because his rice cooker began to smoke or the time he got lost on his way to MSBY tryouts.

It’s the most laughter Bokuto has ever seen from Iwaizumi, and he’s happy that he’s made his new friend happy. The mood is light and the conversation is flowing easily until Bokuto asks what he thought was a simple question.

“What made you decide to study sports science?”

The easy-going atmosphere immediately shifts as a pang of sadness flashes across Iwaizumi’s eyes, but instead of trying to hide it from Bokuto, he just embraces it.

“I usually just say it’s because I want to help people become better at what they love,” Iwaizumi starts, “which is true, of course, but talking to you feels so easy that I think I can share the full truth.”

And so Bokuto learns more, how Iwaizumi’s volleyball partner, the same one that had found a beaten up volleyball in the woods many summers before, grew into someone that Iwaizumi was proud of but at times was still not of himself.

Bokuto can relate to this and wonders if Akaashi ever felt the same way about him, when Bokuto had his moments during games and out of them when he felt like he wasn’t deserving of a toss or the title of ace.

Bokuto then learns how Iwaizumi tried to balance passion and practice, tried to find the balance between working hard and overworking yourself, and tried his best to be calm when it all snapped.

“I don’t know why I didn’t stop him earlier. I just kept on receiving serves for him. Something in me was telling me his run-up looked off, but I let him keep going until I waited for a ball that never came because I watched him crumple to the ground before me.” 

Iwaizumi sighs and Bokuto knows that this story will always be painful to tell, no matter how many times he has told it before. Honored that Iwaizumi trusts him enough to share this already, Bokuto places a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. Iwaizumi smiles up at him, then looks down and continues.

“I’ve never felt more scared in my life. I didn’t know what to do. He was crying out in pain and all I could do was wonder if I should try to move him or his knee or just wait until someone came to help us. I felt so useless because I couldn’t do anything then and I hadn’t said anything before when I thought something was wrong.”

Bokuto can only begin to imagine how that feels. On the court, he’s seen his fair share of injuries and had his own minor ones himself. But he’s never seen them coming beforehand like Iwaizumi had, seen them affect someone he cares about so much.

Akaashi had once called him a star, so is this feeling what it’s like to watch the sun burn out? 

The sun will not go out though, not in this lifetime at least. Iwaizumi’s volleyball partner recovered, that Oikawa who “went all the way to Argentina to get even better and beat everyone,” Iwaizumi laughs, the weight of their conversation lifted.

“I feel the best when my players feel the best, so I wanted to learn from who I considered the best which is why I went all the way to California.” Iwaizumi is clearly proud of his decision, proud of himself (as he should be, Bokuto is amazed by him) but the other tinge of sadness in him still remains in his words.

“It’s a lot different there, isn’t it?” Bokuto questions finally. He had asked follow up questions earlier when Iwaizumi told him stories of his college days, but Bokuto couldn’t quite find a way to bring up the cultural divide that clearly still affects Iwaizumi.

Now that it’s evident that Iwaizumi trusts him enough to share some personal things, Bokuto feels it’s safe to ask what he’s suspected has been bothering his athletic trainer.

“It is very different there,” Iwaizumi begins, “I don’t think either is bad though, here or there, just some things are very different.”

“And you’re still not used to it here yet are you?” Bokuto prods. If Iwaizumi is shocked by the blatant question, his surprise is quickly replaced with another smile that Bokuto is glad to pull from him.

“No one’s really asked me that before. I’m really not. I thought I could just act like I did before I left, but it’s been years and I was a teenager then. Now I’m an adult and it’s different, I’m not even sure what I need to be getting used to sometimes.”

“Well I’m an adult and I don’t think I’m doing things right most of the time so I don’t think that’s a problem!” Bokuto and Iwaizumi laugh at that together, two guys in their mid twenties still figuring it out.

“But I know someone who is a lot more cultured and responsible, he can help us be better adults!”

“Who?” Iwaizumi says through laughter.

“My boyfriend Keiji!” Bokuto beams. He doesn’t miss the quirk up of Iwaizumi’s lips at the mention of a boyfriend. “He’s so formal he still calls me Bokuto-san sometimes!”

“I’d love to meet him then,” Iwaizumi pauses, “I- uh don’t really have many friends around here.” Iwaizumi blushes at that admission, “It was a lot easier to make friends back in college.”

Now that the news of Bokuto-has-a-boyfriend has been shared, Bokuto knows that someday he will hear more about Oikawa, not as Iwaizumi’s old volleyball partner that went all the way to Argentina to be the best but as Tooru, the man that always makes Iwaizumi smile on the phone. But for now, he’ll keep getting to know whatever Iwaizumi cares to share with him.

“Really?” Bokuto exclaims, eager to hear about the interesting people California has to offer.

“Once I was so frustrated studying in the library I just slammed my head into my textbook and took a nap. When I woke up there was a guy sitting across from me offering me a chocolate bar.”

Bokuto laughs and Iwaizumi continues “I still talk to that guy too. When I got back to Japan he asked me to mail him all the different fruit-flavored Kit-Kats.”

“Tell me more!” Bokuto exclaims.

“Once I overheard these two girls in my class arguing over how to pronounce my name right. I walked up to them and said “It’s Hajime” and they were shocked that they were both wrong.” 

Bokuto can only imagine how Americans would butcher Kotarou as Iwaizumi continues. 

“Apparently they weren’t even friends, they were just arguing over some random Japanese guy in their class! But now they’re engaged and I’m invited to the wedding.”

“Surely it can’t get more interesting than that?” Bokuto chokes out, because surely it can’t?

“Somehow it can. Once someone set off the fire alarm at 4 AM and my whole dorm building had to evacuate. This guy was showering at the time for some reason and he came outside in a towel. I felt so bad I just took off my pants and gave them to him.”

Iwaizumi is laughing so hard he’s struggling to tell the story now. Bokuto couldn’t speak if he tried. “Now every year for Christmas, he gets me a pair of pajama pants.”

The ramen shop is relatively quiet now, the lateness of the evening driving most other patrons home, except for the laughter of two men, shaking and almost in tears. 

When Bokuto can finally formulate words again he says, “I thought I was weird for just straight up asking to be friends! I thought I would be your weirdest friend, but you’ve already got so many!”

“And now I have one more.” Iwaizumi looks so much lighter than he normally does when talking to the team and Bokuto wishes he could stay and get to know his new friend for even longer, but it’s getting late and the store will be closing.

“You do!” Bokuto says as he slips out of his seat and Iwaizumi follows after him. When they get outside, it appears that they’re heading different ways.

“Thank you,” Iwaizumi says, “I’m really glad we’re friends now.”

“Of course, and I can help you get to know all the other guys too if you want, they’re really cool too!”

“I would really like that. I can’t thank you enough for all your help,” Iwaizumi replies.

“It’s no problem at all! Now I have another arm wrestling challenger!” Bokuto smirks at him.

“Be careful what you wish for, I’m undefeated.” Iwaizumi smirks back. A buzz from his phone reminds him he should probably get going, as much as they both want to talk for longer.

“Thank you again, really uh-“

“Kotarou.”

“Huh?”

“You can call me Kotarou. It’ll be our new friend thing!”

“Goodnight then, Kotarou,” Iwaizumi smiles.

“Goodnight Hajime!” Bokuto calls back, and then they’re both turning away into the night, bellies full, cheeks sore from laughter, and smiles lingering on their faces.

From then on, Bokuto becomes one of Iwaizumi’s closest friends on the team. The day after their ramen outing, Bokuto pulls him into more conversations with Hinata and Kageyama, and he gives Iwaizumi a rundown on some things he’s picked up on about his teammates.

“Tsum-Tsum’s really dramatic, you should tell him your college stories, he would love them!”

“Omi-kun doesn’t like when people are in his personal space, but he really appreciates high fives!”

“Don’t tell him I said this but Hinata said that Kageyama secretly likes it when people ruffle his hair but no one usually does it because it’s so smooth and put together!”

“Don’t tell him that I said this either but Kageyama said that Hinata still gets scared when someone comes into the bathroom if he’s already in there!”

“Ushijima doesn’t laugh very much but if he nods along with you he is enjoying it!”

“Hoshiumi thinks your spiky hair is cool and is thinking about going back to that style!”

With Bokuto’s advice and his own interactions with the team, Iwaizumi soon finds himself making friends with them on his own, and he feels a lot happier than he felt before when he only really talked to Oikawa and his old friends on the phone.

Even though Iwaizumi gets closer with the other team members (he and Yaku get along scarily well), Bokuto always remains his closest friend on the team.

If Bokuto knew that asking Iwaizumi to be his friend would make him a friend for life, he would have done so the day they met. Iwaizumi seems much happier now, and Bokuto will always be glad that he was one of the reasons for it.

He’s also glad to have a worthy arm wrestling opponent, someone to challenge but also someone to face life’s many challenges with.

When they finally have their fateful arm wrestling match, Iwaizumi remains undefeated, but tells Bokuto in full honesty that there were moments he was worried that he would lose.

When the team goes out to eat together, even if they don’t sit next to each other, the night will always find Bokuto and Iwaizumi laughing so hard that their sides hurt.

When Bokuto gets down and wishes he could hide under a table, Iwaizumi is there to reassure him that it’s okay to feel upset and that he can take as long as he needs to feel better.

When Akaashi comes to town, he teaches Iwaizumi the key words to uplifting Bokuto without inflating his ego too much, and Bokuto is just scared by how serious and straight lipped they both are when combined.

When Bokuto meets Oikawa as Tooru, the guy who is always in the recently called section on Iwaizumi’s phone, Oikawa stares him down through the screen and accuses Bokuto of trying to steal his best friend. Iwaizumi groans out an apology, and Bokuto just laughs and says not to worry because his best friend is his boyfriend too.

When Iwaizumi really misses Oikawa, Bokuto keeps him company, tells him how lucky he is to have found his person so early on in life, and enjoys the time he gets to spend with Iwaizumi before love leads him somewhere else. Bokuto indulges in Iwaizumi’s Godzilla obsession, and then gets both of them in a habit of watching terrible movies. They make fun of them and cry of laughter and everything just seems funnier when they are together.

When Bokuto sees matching keychains when they are out shopping, Iwaizumi has to restrain Bokuto from buying them all. Somehow, they still walk out with three matching pairs of friendship keychains. Later, Iwaizumi apologizes to Akaashi for failing to protect his boyfriend’s wallet, and Akaashi worlessly replies with a photo of over three dozen keychains.

When Bokuto and Akaashi get engaged, Iwaizumi feigns shock when Bokuto calls him screaming in excitement. Iwaizumi had used ‘athletic trainer measurement’ reasons to get Bokuto’s ring size for Akaashi months ago, so he wasn’t surprised at all.

When the Olympics rolled around, Iwaizumi told Bokuto more stories to keep him from getting too nervous about the upcoming matches. Some of them were the same ones Iwaizumi had told the first night they hung out, but Bokuto still laughed like he was hearing them for the first time.

When Japan played hard, hard enough to win a bronze medal but not hard enough to defeat Argentina and golden boy Oikawa, Iwaizumi was there to reassure Bokuto in his skills as an ace and as an Olympic medalist. Bokuto was there to sneak Iwaizumi out of a team outing, assuring him that he would cover for him so that Iwaizumi could see Oikawa Tooru, the Olympic gold medalist and the guy who’s here in Japan for once so he can make Iwaizumi smile not through a screen.

When Bokuto gets married, Iwaizumi is there with Kuroo and Hinata and Atsumu to reassure him in the dressing room that no, Akaashi will not get abducted before the wedding or during it or after it. (Bokuto never once considered that a runaway groom situation would occur because Akaashi didn’t want to marry him anymore.)

When Iwaizumi gives a speech at Bokuto’s wedding, he tells everyone how proud of and how happy he is for his friend but also that this was never the surprise Bokuto thought it was because 1) Bokuto and Akaashi are the world to each other and 2) ‘Bokuto, what do you actually think I would do with your finger measurements?’

When Bokuto and well, also Bokuto decide to adopt, Bokuto shows up to Iwaizumi’s apartment in tears, worried that he is going to be a terrible parent and have to make Keiji do all the work, Iwaizumi assures him that he will be a wonderful dad and that part of being a new parent is that he and Keiji will figure it out together.

When Iwaizumi gets on a plane to Argentina, Bokuto drives him to the airport, crushes him into a hug with the strength of his arms that still haven’t beaten Iwaizumi in arm wrestling, and waves at Iwaizumi as he goes through airport security until he can’t see him anymore.

When Iwaizumi calls him barely more than 24 hours later, Bokuto screams into the phone because ‘what do you mean you got married and didn’t invite me?’ and Iwaizumi, an Oikawa now, just laughs because he didn’t even get an invitation to his own wedding. There was hardly even an engagement period either as when an overjoyed Oikawa Tooru saw Iwaizumi again, he blurted out ‘Marry me?’ and a sleep-ridden, jet-lagged Iwaizumi responded ‘Right now?’.

When Kotarou and Keiji adopt a pair of twins together, Kotarou calls Hajime in the afternoon to meet them. It’s the middle of the night for Hajime, but he quickly wakes up and wakes Tooru too to meet the newest members of the Bokuto family.

When Hajime and Tooru visit Japan together, the twin’s Uncle ‘Zumi is the first adult besides their parents that they can’t fool when they switch. (When Atsumu is asked how he managed to switch them up, he threatens to dye his hair back to brown to see if anyone would like to tell him and Osamu apart.)

When the Oikawa’s have a wedding ceremony, five years after they actually got married, no best man is picked by either of the grooms, so somehow Bokuto has found himself in a competition with Hanamaki for the title of bestest man. Matsukawa sighs and records the competition, while Keiji reluctantly keeps score. Neither of them would rather do anything else and risk walking in on Hajime and Tooru making out somewhere.

When Kotarou and Keiji have to fly home to Japan after the ceremony, (they would love to stay longer, but the twins have probably terrorized Keiji’s parents enough), there’s an air of uncertainty between everyone. Neither of them know when they’ll see each other again. Yet neither of them are scared. 

They’ve done long-distance relationships and friendships for many years of their lives. It’s something that’s just part of moving on from a place when your heart doesn’t move on from the people you met there.

So when the taxi pulls up to take Kotarou and Keiji to the airport, only happy tears are shed. They’re both happy that their friend has found a place to be happy with someone that makes them happy. 

Hajime pulls Kotarou into a bone-crushing hug with arms that have always won their arm wrestling matches before goodbyes are shared for real. As Hajime and Tooru watch the car pull away, the window rolls down and Kotarou yells, “I’ll beat you the next time we arm wrestle, I promise!”

Neither of them know when they’ll see each other next, when they’ll be able to test the strength of Kotarou’s promise or Hajime’s unbreakable winning streak, but it’s okay because they’ll have each other in their lives regardless of the distance.

And when they do see each other again, whenever that is, whether they’ve changed a little or a lot or hardly at all, Kotarou will always be the person who asked to be friends, and Hajime will always be the person who took him up on it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> My [twitter!](https://twitter.com/iwaizumibestboy)
> 
> I really did not expect to write all this in one day, but life has been strange lately! A few big & not so great things have occurred in my life recently, but having my friends through it all has made it so much easier, so I hope this fic captures how important it is to have good friends in life <3
> 
> I've also had writer's block for a while, but in the past two days, I have written this and a different iwaoi fic which I hope to post soon!
> 
> Finally, if you liked this, please leave kudos or comments and check out my last [fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275905)! Thank you all so much for reading this far <3


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